Anime Vice News

China Mourns/Celebrates the End of NARUTO

It's a monolith. It's open to interpretation.

When you keep in mind that an entire bootleg WORLD OF WARCRAFT theme park was built in China (without any approval whatsoever from Blizzard), then really seems like less of a surprise...

io9 has relayed some photos from Guangzhou, showing how a two-ton Gamabunta has been erected to presumably coincide with NARUTO's conclusion this week. 'Presumably,' because it appeared without any actual announcement. Some think it might be the work of fans -- dealing with their grief over the series' end in the most outlandish way possible. Others speculate it might actually be a promotional stunt, meant to get people talking about the forthcoming NARUTO ONLINE game.

Considering how the Farewell to Naruto has already been tempered with the announcement of an additional series, the latter explanation does seem a bit more likely. That, and the fact that a two-ton monolith like this is very clearly beyond the spending budget of even the most hardcore fan.

What do you Vicers think? Who could really be behind this mystery? And does it make you feel better about the manga's finale in any appreciable way?